of old garages and "stuff"
My grandma lived in a tiny town on a small street in one side of a duplex that at one time had been a tiny church. In her small backyard was a garage. It was old and had a dirt floor and two doors that took two people to pull open and closed. In that tiny garage my grandpa kept his car. There was also an old bike that I was able to ride from time to time when I visited.
We lived in a small town and also had a tiny garage with a dirt floor but our door could be lifted up all at once. There my dad kept his car and a small snow blower, which he used to clear the alley where we lived so our neighbors could get out of their tiny garages.
When we moved to California, we had a garage with a cement floor. Our washer and dryer sat out there and when my dad was at work I could play out there. I had a huge chalk board that I would doodle at for hours at a time. I kept a lemonade stand there and my old hand me down bike sat there, too. Because it had cement, I thought we had hit the lottery! That garage became my playroom!
Nowadays people have garages that can hold as many as three vehicles, yet there have been times when as I have driven or walked by, I see so much "stuff" in those garages that I wonder, where does one even PUT the car anymore? It is basically extra storage space for STUFF! And I wonder...how much do you need?
There have been commercials for public storage places. You can rent whatever size you need or some places will come to you and you store your things in their cubicles. Once full, they take it away and keep it safe until you need it again.
I can see temporary storage if one is moving, but permanent space for things you won't see for awhile? Wow! The industry is getting rich of off folks who have to have more and more stuff.
I was rereading yesterday's blog and I pondered on how some lose their possessions in things like fires or floods. There was a picture in the newspaper recently of folks in Thailand facing floods, carrying their few possessions on their heads to keep them dry. There are folks in other countries who have just enough to get by--why does America seem so preoccupied with accumulating things?
Things will not save you from heartache. In fact, it is the accumulation of things that can get one into trouble. Having charge cards with payments due each month, owning more than one vehicle includes payments, gas, insurance, etc. A bigger house means more work keeping up on payments, taxes as well as upkeep: yards, roofs, painting, you name it. Are you stressed out yet? I am getting tired just thinking of it!
When I was divorced and most of my things were "taken" away, I felt a twinge of anger yes, but I soon realized, I didn't have to dust as much, there was space in each room! Ah, space! to dance, to meditate and to be thankful in prayer. "Thankful," you ask? "You had next to nothing!" Yes, nothing in possessions but in spirit, I was rich! Even the Bible says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.
"Stuff" won't save you, you can't buy God's love, so who really are you impressing?
In this global economy, isn't there some way others can be helped just by simplifying what you have and sharing? Oh the feeling is too good to describe! But trust me, instead of things lording over your life, try simple living. Break the chains that stuff has over you....you will find that it is worth it.
Denny Hecker of car dealer fame is serving time in prison because his need for "stuff" overwhelmed him. His greed to have as much as possible of everything there was set him up for failure. He still owes 200 MILLION dollars to creditors! Ponzi schemes and even what the big corporations and banks as well as oil companies are doing to much of society today is what is creating unrest. So many are without while so few have too much.
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